Misericordia Dean Has Nasa Background, Notes ‘buzz’ About Eclipse

DALLAS — Misericordia University professor Heidi L.K. Manning knows a lot about solar eclipses. Manning once served as a researcher at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland and participated in the development of the Sample Analysis at Mars instrument suite for the Mars Science Laboratory rover Curiosity. She also took part in the development and calibration of the Cassini Orbiter Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer, which are orbiting Saturn investigating the atmosphere of the planet and its moons. Manning, dean of Misericordia’s College of Arts and Sciences, acknowledged there is a lot of “buzz” about the total solar eclipse today because it is passing across the entire continental United States and will be visible for “so many people.” The total eclipse will cover a relatively narrow path, about 70 miles wide, starting in Oregon at 10:16 a.m.